The Greatest Pain
by Lucifer-Allheart
Summary: Jansen seeks out the help of Kaim after he runs into some 'problems' in his relation with Ming. *spoilers for end game* one-shot


Standing on a cliff near his house, Kaim Argonar looked out over the sea

Disclaimer: I don't own Lost Odyssey or any of the character in the game. It all belongs to Mistwalker.

Spoilers: there will be spoilers for the end of the game, so don't read this if you haven't finished the game yet.

Standing on a cliff near his house, Kaim Argonar looked out over the sea. It had been five years now, five years since the two of the five immortals that had prowled this world had left. Five years since they had fought Gongora and Kaim destroyed the Tower of Mirrors. Yet to Kaim it seemed only yesterday.

"Hey, what're you thinking of?"

Kaim turned around and looked at his wife. Even though they had been married for well over fifty years now, and have aged over a thousand years, she still looked like she was in her mid twenties. And to Kaim, she was still one of the most beautiful women he had ever encountered.

"Nothing much." He answered. "Just enjoying the view. Even after walking on this world for so long, it never stops to amaze me just how beautiful it can be at times."

"Yes, I know." Sarah answered as she moved to stand next to her husband. "This world is so beautiful, and so alive that it will always amaze us, not matter what we may have experienced already."

Together they stood there and simply watched the sea, seeing the waves flow, the fish swim and the sun slowly start it's decent from the sky.

XxX

"Hey Kaim, how you doing buddy?" a voice suddenly called out from behind them. A voice that both Kaim and Sarah recognized as that of an old friend. A friend they had not seen for far too long.

"I'm doing good Jansen, how've you been?" Kaim answered as he turned around. Jansen's appearance had changed since the last time Kaim saw him. Two years had passed since and Jansen was truly looking the part of King. But there was something that surprised Kaim.

"Where's your guard? Don't tell me the King of Numara is walking around unprotected?" Kaim joked a bit as he shook hands with his old friend.

"I know, I just ditched them before I came here. Besides, the only ones after me are other beautiful women, can't really ask the soldiers to 'take care' of them can I? Have to life up to my royal duties after all."

"Best not let Ming hear you say that." Sarah said with a smile as she twirled her umbrella around.

"Yeah I know. Hey listen Kaim, buddy, I need to ask you something important. Think you could accompany me on a trip to the pub?"

"If you want to talk, we can do it here just fine, no-one is going to overhear us here. And if you want something to cool your throat, I have some of that as well."

"Oh yeah, great thanks. But," Jansen took a glance at Sarah before suddenly sighing, "Oh well, might as well ask you as well Sarah, you may actually be a better person to ask this too."

"You're getting me curious about your request Jansen." Kaim said as he led the way back to the house he shared with his wife and grandchildren.

XxX

"So, how've those two brats been doing?" Jansen asked as he took a sip of his drink. "Been hearing a lot of good things about them lately."

"Yeah. They're going to that magic academy that you and Ming started a couple years back and they're some of the best in the school." Sarah said with obvious pride.

"Cooke's got some white magic that even the teachers can't match, not to mention the efficiency she uses all her spells with."

"And Mack is, without anyone even comparing, the strongest magic fighter in the school." Kaim added with equal pride as he took a sip. "His spirit magic is stronger then anyone else's, he has moves and experiences that his classmates can't even begin to imagine and there's no-one among the teachers who can match his speed these days."

"Yeah, no kidding." Jansen didn't sound all that surprised. "I've been getting reports saying that they should both be recommended for royal honor guard right away, based on fighting skills and magic powers alone. They're doing a better job of keeping order in the school then the teachers do. Everyone knows them, likes them, respects them and knows not to mess with them. I have to say you two did a great job raising them." as he finished talking, Jansen looked down into his muck again, his smile fading as he was thinking of something.

Kaim, noticing the strange behavior for the usually so cheery and amusing man, decided to find out what Jansen had come here for. Not that he minded the company, but he was beginning to get curious.

"So, Jansen, what did you want to ask? I doubt it was only about how Cooke and Mack are doing these days?"

Shocked out of his thoughts, Jansen looked up with a shock. His face turned serious as he spoke up.

"It's about Ming and me." he started. Jansen wasn't feeling all that comfortable, he looked around the room. He took a long breath before speaking, with great trouble, about his problem.

"A few days ago, when we were getting ready for bed, Ming asked me a question. It's something that most of the higher-up people have been bothering us with for a while now but we've always managed to ignore them and just do what we want. A-and now that Ming was actually asking me what I thought about it, I don't know what I should do…"

"What're you talking about?" Kaim asked, his voice as calm as could be.

"Ming asked me what I thought of getting a child, with her." Jansen dropped the bombshell on them.

"What?" Sarah asked, a happy look on her face. "You're going to have a baby? Oh, how wonderful!"

"Not yet." Jansen said with a grim face. "She didn't only ask what I thought of it, she told me that she wanted to have my child. But she assured me that she wasn't pregnant yet."

"Then what's the problem?" Kaim's voice was a bit heavier then normal; he could already guess what the problem was.

"I'm not sure about what I should do." Jansen said. "I mean, I love her and all that, that's not the problem." He added hastily. "But you know, the thing is… she can't die, or age for that matter. Before we even got married I was already worrying about what would happen in a few years. Back at the Tower of Mirrors I nearly died and Ming looked devastated because of it.

And when we got married, we both acknowledged the fact that I would die some way or another (To Die? Wtf man, typo much.), be it by old age, a disease or a sword. You wouldn't believe the amount of times we've talked about that. But we've both accepted it and that's all that we can do."

"Yes, it is the sad fates of the immortals to see those we care for most die at some point, while we live on." Sarah said.

"You're worried about what will happen to your children, aren't you?" Kaim asked.

"No, I already know what will happen to my… our children." Jansen answered. "Ming and I will raise them as best we can, we'll love them as much as we can and we'll find out how bad of a father I am. We'll probably spoil them too much and in the end, I'll hopefully die a peaceful death before they die in the same way."

He drank the last of his drink before continuing.

"But what I'm worried about is how Ming would feel after that. I married her knowing that she would one day see me die while she couldn't. How can I ask her to bear children that we both know she will only watch die as well? How could I, as a man, ask my wife to mother children that she is doomed to see perish one day? How could I, as her husband, ensure her of so much tragedy in the future?"

Suddenly silence ruled in the small cabin. Neither Kaim nor Sarah knew an immediate answer to Jansen's sudden outburst.

"That's what I wanted to ask you Kaim, although I suppose Sarah would know the feeling even better? How could you ever bear to be with someone, to love someone you know will die before you, and even have a child with that you know will die? Where did you get the strength to have children with someone else, when you know they will all die before you? How could you take Lirum, knowing that both of you would outlive her?"

"Because," Kaim began, his face contracted as he thought deeply on the matter, "If we only focus on the feelings we have when we loose someone we care for, we would only look at the bad side of things. Yes, you're right that Ming, Sarah and I will feel a lot of regret, as we have done in the past, over losing a loved one. But there is more to life then death alone. We, as immortals, live on because we remember how we loved those people. We mourn their death, but we look back at their lives, the years that we have spend at their sides and all the things we have felt with those people. And that allows us to go on with ourselves."

"What Kaim means," Sarah concluded for Jansen, "is that Ming will remember all the good things that have happened. You're right in that she'll outlive you and all her decedents, but by remembering all the joys, love and happiness that she felt with you and all the others Ming would be left not broken as you fear, but instead she would perhaps be happy. Happy she got to know you, happy she got to spend time with you, happy she could bear your children, Happy she could be there until your time ended. She would mourn you, and all those that would come after you, but she will always remember you as the man that she loved more then anyone else, as the man that stood up with her to protect this world from harm."

"So, what do you think I should do?" Jansen asked the two other immortals. "Should we have a baby?"

"We can't decide that for you, only you and Ming can." Sarah answered. "We only want to remind you that, even though we can't die, we will always remember the people we loved with all our hearts. And that doesn't have to be a bad thing."

"You're probably right. Wait, what am I saying, you two have first hand experience- of course you two would know. Thanks."

Just then the door slowly opened and two teenagers entered the house.

"Hey look, it's Jansen!" Cooke exclaimed.

"How you doing, you're highness?" Mack politely asked from behind his sister.

"I'm doing good, just decided to drop by and give your grandparents your report cards. Bet you didn't tell them you failed half of your classes!" Jansen joked as he stood up; looking as if a massive weight was dropped from his shoulders.

XxX

A few months later, there was a formal announcement made from the palace. The Thousand Year Old Queen, Ming Numara, was expecting a child. And when the announcement was made, the only one that looked even happier then the Queen, was the King that stood at her side.

A/N: a little oneshot for one of my new favorite games, please tell me what you think about it.

Thanks as always to my loyal beta and good friend Zephyr-Tai-Ji for correcting many of my grammar mistakes.

Please leave a review telling me what you thought of the story.


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